On Tuesday morning, January 27th, Neil Brodeur, the athletic director at Rice, announced that students would not be allowed to attend the boys basketball game against Champlain Valley Union (CVU) that night, due to ongoing social media posts between the teams.
The Vermont Principals’ Association policy on unsportsmanlike behavior and the consequences is clear: “Unsportsmanlike acts will not be tolerated.”
The VPA requires all schools to read a pregame statement:
“Sportsmanship and safe playing environments are the top priorities for all Vermont school-sponsored activities. This is especially true with respect to a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, ethnic differences, or disabilities. Under no circumstances should any student-athletes, officials, or coaches be subjected to behavior and/or language aimed to demean, disrespect or harm. If behavior or hate speech of this kind is observed and/or reported, the site officials will stop the event immediately to meet with the coaches and the game officials about the next possible outcomes of violating this expectation…Adults and students are encouraged and expected to work together to ensure a meaningful and safe learning environment for our communities to grow and thrive together.”
These expectations are there to protect the athletes and schools alike and to foster elements of respect and care within the larger Vermont community.
Over the social media platform Instagram, there were posts made by both schools with the purpose of demeaning and insulting the players and communities. These posts were deemed unacceptable.
The posts include images, comments, and “rants”. These images and comments were both sexual and violent in nature and referenced players along with their families and friends.
Student sections at games have long been controversial due to “mean” chants and targeted insults. While many chants are there to ‘hype up’ their own teams, some can go too far.
“Oftentimes, there are cheers targeting specific people and the specific schools,” said senior Gillian Grimes. “It takes away that the games are about the sport and not the schools themselves.”
However, when the chants are positive and meant to cheer people on instead of tearing them down, the energy of the section changes, and it becomes a fun environment.
“I love showing up to our school’s games, cheering at the top of my lungs and supporting our athletes”, says senior and student body president, Kate Larkin. “Whether going all out with the outfit theme or chanting our players’ names, being in a high-energy student section is, or was, such a harmless way to show school spirit.”
These demonstrations of school spirit and the friendly competition between student sections can also be motivational to the players on the court.
“When I get chants targeted towards me they don’t really affect how I play, but they do make me want to play better to prove people wrong,” said junior Landon Merchant, a varsity player on the Rice boys basketball team.
This all came to a head because of the large rivalry between the two schools in many winter sports, specifically basketball and hockey. Many believed that this game was a preview of the championship as Rice and CVU are top-seeded teams.
“I think it’s fair for the students, but I think it’s unfair for the players, because I think we’ve been waiting for games like this, the entire season…” said Sebastian Parent, a senior player on the Rice boys varsity basketball team.“This is one of our big three – it’s Burlington, SB and CVU at home – and we’re getting that taken away. So I think it’s more unfair that the students made this happen to us.”
It is not only Rice and CVU. Events like this are becoming more common as the usage of social media increases in high school students. In a statement made to Seven Days, Lauren Thomas, assistant executive director of the VPA, explained that it is unusual for schools to ban students, however it does happen once a year for various reasons.
“I find it so disappointing that both schools have escalated the “rivalry” of competition to the point where neither team gets this fun experience,” said Larkin.
That sentiment has been echoed by players as well.
“Just be the bigger person. Move on,” said Parent. “It’s not worth getting into a big argument over a basketball game.”
“While the posts were made on private accounts, their impact extends beyond individuals and causes real harm to people and communities. We strongly encourage families to speak with students about responsible online behavior and the consequences of harmful language and images, even when shared digitally.” – Statement Release to Rice Community
